Summer 2012
Foundation for Educational Exchange Between Canada and the United States of America
The 10th Anniversary of the Killam Fellowships Program at Vanderbilt University, Barsky teaches literature and works in immigration studies, linguistics, and radicalism in American Jewish life. While To celebrate, Fulbright Canada is inviting many best known for his work as the of its key stakeholders (alumni, government biographer of partners, and universities) to our 10th famed linguist anniversary celebration. We are hosting Guest lecturer and activist Noam the 10th Annual Elizabeth Killam Rodgers & Dr. Robert Barsky Constance Killam Distinguished Public Lecture, Chomsky, Barsky is and a gala dinner at the Chateau Laurier in an important public intellectual in his own Ottawa on September 13th. Invitations for the right. He is author of “The Chomsky Effect: gala dinner are currently being sent, we hope A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower”, and Chomsky’s biography “Noam Chomsky: that you will be able to attend! A Life of Dissent.” He is also founder and We would invite all friends of Fulbright and editor of AmeriQuests, a peer-reviewed members of the community to join us for the e-journal devoted to writing and research about real and metaphorical quests toward public lecture which will take place in the “America.” Salon room at the National Arts Centre at 5:00pm on September 13th. This lecture will feature Dr. Robert Barsky, who will discuss the We hope that you will join us for the 10th role and relevance of public intellectuals. Anniversary Distinguished Killam public lecture to celebrate the success of the Killam program. A distinguished member of the humanities division of the College of Arts and Science In 2002, Fulbright Canada partnered with the American Killam Trust to create an undergraduate exchange program that supported some of the best and brightest young minds in Canada and the United States. This year, on the 10th anniversary, 250 students will have participated in the Killam Fellowships Program!
A message from CEO Michael Hawes Fulbright Canada is proud to boast an active and engaged alumni who are leaders in their fields, champions of social action, and proponents of diversity. They remain committed to the core Fulbright mission; promoting mutual understanding at home and abroad. In this newsletter we invite all of you to read about the community and volunteer initiatives that our alumni have undertaken. We are proud of this opportunity to relay their stories of engagement, collaboration and understanding. We also invite you to read about our various community leadership programs, and our Killam and Fulbright community campaigns, “The Killam Day of Action” and the “2012 Hours against Hate.” I would also ask you to mark your calendar for the Killam Fellowships Program 10th anniversary gala here in Ottawa on September 13th. Finally I would also like to welcome Michael O’Shea to the Foundation as our new Education USA officer.
Page 2 The Right to Learn: A Killam Day of Action “Education is a right. It should not only be provided for an elite few, nor should it be administered poorly,” says Josh Halpren, a Killam student who recently dedicated a day to the Killam Day of Action. This summer, Josh was hired as a fifth grade social studies intern at the KIPP Ujima Village Academy, a charter middle school in his hometown of Baltimore that enacted an educational model called KIPP, the Knowledge is Power Program. Josh was responsible for helping students with their Ambassador Projects - each student researched a country to understand its geography, culture, history and government. Josh helped students build research skills, write papers, and give presentations on a topic that would create an
appreciation of different cultures, and even taught a lesson about the importance of maintaining friendly relations between Canada and the USA. At the year-end Ambassador Project Expo, each student presented their country to parents and students with confidence and pride. Ninety-seven percent of students at KIPP Ujima identify as being AfricanAmerican, and many qualify for Free and Reduced Meals, a clear indicator of poverty. Teaching students from low socioeconomic backgrounds with a diversity of skill levels was “very different from the neighboring schools I attended in Baltimore” says Halpren. “This experience was and eye-opener, not only for the drastic need for quality public education, but the crucial role
Killam Fellow Josh Halpren (2012-13) with KIPP students
of dedicated teachers in empowering students and increasing self-esteem.” KIPP Ujima holds true to it’s mantra Excellence without Exception, and Josh happily recalls that “the support they extended is something for which I will always be grateful.”
Fulbrighters fight for Human Rights Uganda for a three day comparative workshop on Human Rights Clinical Legal Education where they discussed the progress and methodology of the clinic with the Ugandan students in order to determine areas of success, and avenues for improvement. “It was interesting,” Duhaime recalls, “how African students are not used to being Fulbright Scholar Dr. Bernard Duhaime (2011-12) upfront with their professors. They were at the workshop on legal education at very appreciative to have their opinions In 2010 Duhaime was contacted by Makerere University, Uganda Fulbright scholar, Ismene Zarifis, who was matter, and to improve the project.” on her exchange at Makerere University Duhaime was pleased to note that his The educational model is difficult to in Uganda. Zarifis created a public friend and colleague’s legal clinic has alter. Author A. J. Rotherham argues interest law clinic with similar objectives been permanently inserted into the that “education history is littered to Duhaime’s, only she took domestic curriculum at Makerere University, and with big promises […] and surprisingly law actions to local tribunals. One that Ismene renewed her Fulbright grant little change.” Despite this challenge, focus was the aggressive anti-gay laws for another year. Fulbright scholars and human right which essentially outlaw homosexuality. lawyers, Dr. Bernard Duhaime and A huge amount of work goes into Lawmakers are currently debating a bill Dr. Ismene Zarifis, have managed to that imposes lengthy sentences on people creating, operating and supervising implement legal human rights clinics for being gay, a year earlier they had these clinics, yet attorneys, human into their curriculum. proposed a bill that called for the death rights lawyers and professors still penalty. choose to volunteer much of their time. Legal clinics originated from Germany When asked why, Duhaime’s sense of in the 19th century, and have since community shone through, “it’s fun, we After the clinic had been running for a grown exponentially. The clinic is are a group of friends and intellectuals integrated into the curriculum to expose year, Zarifis invited Duhaime to Uganda. that want to motivate the next In April, Duhaime joined Zarifis in students to real-world experiences generation of lawyers.” while under the supervision of attorneys. Duhaime, who created the first legal clinic in Quebec, argues that they “are instrumental in preparing students for human rights lawsuits.” Students assess the credibility of evidence, learn techniques to interview victims and present evidence, and build arguments against human rights violations.
Page 3 Volunteer Edition
Food for Thought program. The project was designed to educate and nourish students at Rogers Middle School - where 81% of students receive free or reduced meals.
of pride and ownership in the school community.”
Through a sustainable garden project that reflects urban students’ basic need for better food, and a greener Increasing evidence has revealed that and more liveable environment, Li’s underachievement and high dropout team was able to engage students rates among urban students from and teachers in a more personalized lower socioeconomic neighbourhoods context. Li argues that the community are correlated with ineffective literacy project strengthened the mutual instruction, and a lack of awareness Fulbright Scholar Dr. Jia Li (2011-12) with Rogers among youth that eating nutritious foods understanding of the complexity of the Middle School students, planting an apple tree challenges that diverse urban students can enhance their concentration. encounter in both Canada and US, Students, teachers and school Fulbright scholar Jia Li went on her administrator were enthusiastically about thus enabling them to explore a joint Fulbright exchange to the Harvard tactic that will reverse the trend of the project, actively working with Li’s Graduate School of Education, where academic underachievement among team in planting fruit trees, perennial she focused on narrowing the literacy such students. “Ultimately this project herbs, and flower bushes. “Students gap at economically disadvantaged has provided my team with a great and teachers were excited to see the urban schools. Concerned about transformation.” reports Li. “Afterwards, opportunity to interact with students building rapport with students and they were so motivated that they cleaned and teachers not just as education teachers, Jia chose to engage Boston researchers, but even more importantly the flowerbeds against the school Public Schools in a community garden as individuals who care deeply about building, which had long been ignored. project that was sponsored by the the holistic wellbeing of their local This is one of the most valuable things Fulbright Canada-RBC Eco-Leadership that the project nurtured – a strong sense communities” says Li.
Creeks and Canadians of American Indian medicinal wildflowers from the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western tribes. This garden will be used as an educational tool, and hopes to revive interest in aboriginal healing practices.
work. He has just finished editing the Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Indian Issues Lawson was surprised at his acceptance Today, which into the Bacone Indian community, will be “Although I am a white professor, published in the Bacone Indian community has 2013. He will embraced my Fulbright experience to soon publish Fulbright Scholar Dr. Russell allow me to lecture, teach, and speak his book Lawson (2010-11) One venue Lawson used was through the at seminars and colloquiums that focus entitled on American Indians; and, to bring my Frontier Naturalist: Jean Louis Berlandier Fulbright Canada-RBC Eco-Leadership understanding of the historical and and the Exploration of Northern Mexico Program. This past winter, Lawson contemporary relations experienced by and Texas, about a 19th century French constructed a traditional medicinal garden on the Bacone College campus in white and Indian Americans to a broader scientist who grew to understand audience.” In doing so, Lawson hopes to the American Indians of the Mexican Muskogee, Oklahoma. Bacone College was founded by the Creeks in 1880, and increase knowledge and understanding frontier. “My Fulbright experience continues to serve American Indians. The between the two cultures. continues to inspire and motivate me!” Russell’s passion is also reflected in his Medicine Wheel garden hosts a variety Russell M. Lawson was a Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Transnational Studies during the fall 2010, at Brock University. He researched Anglican Missionaries to Canada’s First Nations Communities in the late 18th century. “Since my Fulbright experience”, Lawson explains, “I have been inspired to find a variety of ways to bring my knowledge and experience of the interaction between whites and American Indians to a variety of people and venues.”
Page 4 Building a Culture of Peace Through Food
Food is a basic need that many people in Canada and the United States cannot afford. Protests have sprung up across Nunavut to call attention to the shocking price of food in Canada’s North. In the United States, 14.5% of households were food insecure in 2011.
are hosting an online course through the National Peace Academy (NPA) that aims to share the vision of creating a culture of peace through food. Hannah notes that “the food system is the human system that is most deeply connected to and dependent on the natural environment. Promoting a culture of peace requires that we develop a good relationship with the environment through our production and consumption of food”.
Hannah Renglich was a Killam Fellow who pursued a Master’s degree in natural resources and peace studies at the U.N.-mandated University for Peace, and is now devoting her time to the fight for food security. In the face of today’s struggles – the ongoing impacts of war, faltering This summer, from August 20th to housing and financial markets, and an September 17th, Hannah and her ever expanding income gap – the right colleague Stephanie Knox Cubbon to basic needs is essential. On his trip to
Canada, Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food said that “Canada has long been seen as a land of plenty. Yet today one in ten families with a child under six is unable to meet their daily food needs. The Canadian system presents barriers for the poor to access nutritious diets and tolerates increased inequalities between rich and poor, and Aboriginal non-Aboriginal peoples . [...]These rates of food insecurity are unacceptable.” Hannah’s online course aims to address food insecurity, a poverty-related human rights challenge, by examining the relationship between food and peace at different levels, from the personal to the global, using various frameworks including culture of peace, food sovereignty, and food security. This course aims to help people from all walks of life establish safe, healthy and sustainable communities. To register for the course and for scholarship information, please visit the NPA’s Registration Page.
Compassion for Canada
Dr. Claudio Aporta (2011-12) at the Arctic Museum at Oregon University
Claudio Aporta is a Fulbright scholar whose research focussed on Inuit land and sea trails. Aporta has amassed evidence that a vast network of trails linked Inuit communities across the Arctic. In an interview with Carleton
University, Aporta explains that “trails were much more than just a means of getting from point A to point B, they represented a complex social network across the North that helped create part of the Inuit people’s cultural identity.” As part of his 2011-12 Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Canadian Studies at the University of Washington, in Seattle, Aporta undertook a lecture tour, visiting universities and colleges in Oregon. The tour, organized by the host institution, and funded by a small grant of the Government of Canada, included Western Oregon University, Willamette University, and Portland State University. “It was an honor to represent Canada, Fulbright, and Carleton University” Aporta explains, “and to
share my research on Arctic issues and in particular my insights on the Inuit culture.” What Aporta found particularly rewarding were the conversations with students and colleagues. He was surprised and excited to see American students and scholars share his love of Canadian Inuit culture, “A highlight of the trip was my visit to a small Arctic museum at Western Oregon University, which hosted an impressive collection of Alaskan and Canadian artifacts. It was wonderful to have the chance to meet such diverse groups of people, passionate about what they do, and with a remarkable love for Canada and Canadian issues.”
Page 5 Volunteer Edition
Genocide Prevention Genocide is not a sudden catastrophy; rather it is the result of a deliberate process. Killam Fellow Rebecca Dixon has recently linked to The Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention, a Canadian non-profit that develops warning systems to prevent genocide. This year, Rebecca has helped the Sentinel Project open its first two chapters at Mount Allison University.
The Baha’i in Iran are a minority group that has been systematically excluded from education. Their holy sites are often restricted and vandalized, and the Iranian regime often incite targeted hatred by accusing them of working with Israelis or Americans.
To prevent genocide, the Project aims to use technology to identify and counter websites that incite hatred, to use mobile Killam Fellow Rebecca Dixon (2010-11) phone networks to document abuses and The Sentinel Project is currently Nations Assistant Secretary General and warn threatened communities, and to monitoring situations of concern for employ GPS technology to guide targeted a former UN Humanitarian Coordinator ethnic groups in Kenya, and for the for Iraq.” The main challenge “was that people to safety. Baha’i community in Iran. Kenya has our chapter found it difficult to attract longstanding ethnic divisions, formerly people’s attention because genocide is Rebecca’s chapter participated by held in check by the authoritarian an overwhelming and depressing topic. holding fundraisers to support the regime. As multiparty democracy We chose to emphasise the fact that developed, those with ethnic ties to the organization’s research, learning about something can indeed be done to prevent early warning systems and genocide ruling party were favoured. With high it, and that the Sentinel Project provides income inequality, the stakes are high for studies, and raising awareness about a hopeful and strategic way to address the Iranian situation of concern. “The the Kenyan election and Rebecca states this kind of mass atrocity.” that there “is concerned over reports of highlight of our year,” Rebecca relays, “was a film screening and discussion an arms race amongst tribal militias in preparation for the December elections.” with Hans von Sponeck, a former United For more information, visit the website at: http://thesentinelproject.org/
ANNOUNCEMENT: New Education USA Officer Michael O’Shea is a Program Officer with EducationUSA, helping Canadian students who wish to study abroad at U.S. education institutions. He shares his time between Foundation for Educational Exchange between Canada and the United States of America and the American Embassy in Ottawa. His responsibilities include disseminating information about study opportunities in the U.S. through social media tools and presentations at school and education fairs. He advises students about applying Education USA Officer Michael O’Shea
to U.S. schools, and serves as a contact for American institutions seeking to recruit students in Canada. He is proud native of Chicago and a graduate of Pomona College, where he received his B.A. in Public Policy Analysis. As a Fulbright Scholar at McGill University last year, he evaluated the quality of public park space in urban communities. He is currently helping develop a new public green space in Montreal through the Fulbright Canada-RBC Eco-Leadership Program.
Page 6 GET INVOLVED WITH: The Killam Day of Action to pledge a day of community service. The “Killam Day of Action” represents an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the important role that Killam Fellows play in bringing communities together. Several students have already dedicated a day to this fantastic initiative. For example, one student is organizing a catch and release fishing derby that educates youth on British Columbia marine life. Another will dedicate a day to the Killam Day of Action while in Ghana volunteering with Global Medical Brigades. Other As you may know, this year marks the th 10 anniversary of the Killam Fellowships possibilities include volunteering at a soup kitchen, a shelter, or at a hospital. Program. In an effort to commemorate To partake in this event please email this, we are asking our Killam alumni
Kaitlyn Innes your shirt size and the best mailing address to send it to, and you will receive a free Killam Shirt! We strongly encourage everyone to document their day of action through videos, photos, and a narrative of some sort. We will then showcase a number of the photos and videos that you share with us at the 10th Anniversary gala dinner, which will be held in Ottawa on September 13th. Please send the documented volunteer work to kinnes@ fulbright.ca by mid-August .
2012 Hours Against Hate The 2012 Hours Against Hate is a campaign to stop bigotry and promote pluralism and respect across lines of culture, religion, tradition, class, and gender. People around the world are pledging their time to stop hate—to do something for someone
who does not look like you, live like you, or pray like you. We would like to encourage you to participate by taking the time to create projects in your communities, help out a neighbor, volunteer at a local school, or learn from someone with whom you otherwise would not or have not had the chance to interact. As the initiative takes place
in the lead up to the London Olympics, activities are best suited to take place in July and August. We would strongly encourage all alumni who participate to take pictures and send us an article on your experience and thoughts on ending hatred.
Fulbright Canada’s Community Programs for Alumni Fulbright Canada recognises the importance of community action. We have, over the past few years, developed a variety of programs for our Fulbright and Killam alumni. These programs are designed to help alumni create a community or ecological project. The Community Leadership Program, which is co-sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Canada and Fulbright Canada, provides an opportunity to take action, get involved, and help make your community and the
world a better place. The Fulbright Canada-RBC Eco-Leadership Program provides grants to Fulbright alumni to engage in environmental action in their community. The Fulbright Canada Mentorship Program is designed to create a community of Fulbright scholars, to connect new Fulbright students with established Fulbright alumni. The Killam Community Action Initiative allows Killam alumni to team up in
groups of three and tackle a community or ecological-based project., while The Killam Local Ambassadors Program is a mentorship program that connect current Killam fellows with Killam alumni. All of these programs are currently accepting applications, please visit the website for more information.
Page 7 The mandate of Fulbright Canada is to enhance mutual understanding between the people of Canada and the people of the United States of America by providing support to outstanding individuals. These individuals conduct research, lecture, or enroll in formal academic programs in the other country. In doing so, Fulbright Canada aims to grow intellectual capacity, increase productivity, and assist in the shaping of future leaders.
Address: 2015-350 rue Albert Street Ottawa, ON K1R 1A4 Tel: (613) 688-5517 www.fulbright.ca For more information, subscribe to our blog or LIKE us on Facebook!
Educational exchange allows for the development of our future leaders, it encourages a more nuanced appreciation of each other, and it contributes to a more thoughtful and more reasoned public policy debate in both countries.
VOLUNTEER AT ORIENTATION 2012! Fulbright Canada is looking for keen alumni located in or near Ottawa to volunteer at this year’s Fall Orientation. We are also looking for a talented pianist interested in performing at the 10th anniversary dinner Gala. If you are interested in either of these positions, please contact Kaitlyn Innes. kinnes@fulbright.ca
SEND US YOUR STORY! If you are interested in having your story featured in the Fall newsletter, or on the blog, please send it to your alumni relations officer Kaitlyn Innes at kinnes@fulbright.ca.